Scrappy-Doo

Scrappy-Doo
Scooby-Doocharacter
First appearance	"The Scarab Lives!" (Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo1979)
Created by	Joseph Barbera
Voiced by	Lennie Weinrib(1979–1980) Don Messick(1980–1988) Scott Innes(1999–2002) J. P. Manoux(2002; Scrappy Rex in the live-action film) James Arnold Taylor(2007;Drawn Together) Dan Milano(2007;Robot Chicken) Tom Kenny(2019;Wacky Races) Jason Mantzoukas(2024;Velma)
Portrayed by	Rowan Atkinson(2002; human disguise)
In-universe information
Full name	Scrappy Cornelius Doo Shitty Crappy Doo (Velma)
Alias	Emile Mondavarious (disguise)
Species	Dog
Gender	Male
Breed	Great Dane

Scrappy-Doois afictionalcharacter in theScooby-Doofranchise. He is aGreat Danepuppycreated byHanna-Barbera Productionsin 1979 and the nephew ofScooby-Dooin various incarnations of theScooby-Doocartoon series.Lennie Weinribprovided his voice for one season in 1979, and from 1980 on it was performed byDon Messick(who also voiced Scooby). In thefirst live-action theatrical film,video games, and commercials, he was voiced byScott Innes,and portrayed byRowan Atkinsonwhen disguised as Mondavarious.

He was created to save the show's ratings which by 1979 had begun to sink to the point of cancellation threats fromABC,who were considering choosing between Scooby-Doo and an unnamed pilotfromRuby-Spears EnterpriseswhichMark Evanierhad also written.

History

Hanna-Barbera

Precursors

Though Scrappy officially debuted in the fall of 1979, there may have been hints of his existence in 1969, as he "...bore a resemblance to Spears's and Ruby's initial idea for a feisty little dog", which was one of the early ideas for the Scooby-Doo character himself, along with the "big cowardly dog" ultimately chosen.

After hearing Joe Barbera's description of the character, writerMark Evanier,was significantly reminded of theLooney TunescharacterHenery Hawk,and incorporated what he knew of said character into the script.

Development

Scrappy's creation officially began in 1978, when Scooby-Doo's ratings were sinking to the point of cancellation threats fromABC.

Duane Poole, a story editor for the first series Scrappy appeared in, recalled it as a lively time, with many new ideas and some new blood being hired with the desperation to revive Scooby-Doo, which had been a cash-cow in its glory days.

Mel Blancwas the first choice to voice Scrappy, given his connection to Henery Hawk, but wanted too much money to voice the part.Frank Welker,the voice ofFred Jones,auditioned to voice Scrappy as adual roleduring the character's development (one of several voice actors considered for the role) and coined thecatchphrase"Puppy Power" during his audition.He would later change this to "Monkey Muscle" for the similarDonkey Kong Jr.character he would voice for TV'sSaturday Supercade.The next choice was Messick, who was seen as giving the best audition, but still deemed "the wrong voice".Afterwards, other well-known cartoon voice artists were considered or suggested:Daws Butler,Paul Winchell,Marilyn Schreffler,Howard Morris,Dick BealsandMarshall Efron.Ultimately,Lennie Weinribwas chosen.

Warner Bros.

Live-actionScooby-Doomovie (2002)

Scrappy was first included in an early draft of what would becomeScooby-Doo(2002), in around March 2000. Though he did not physically appear, and was only mentioned by Shaggy and Scooby offhand and was heavily implied to have been put to sleep for undisclosed reasons.James Gunnfirst acknowledged his involvement in April 2000.Other original ideas for the villain included the Old Man Smithers, the villain from the beginning of the film. Concept art for Scrappy turning into a monster was drawn in 2001.According to the DVD commentary, choosing the villain of the movie was a problematic part of the production, as the makers did not feel comfortable simply giving the role to an "anonymous monster", and that the ending was in "bits and pieces" and the "confinements forced them to be creative." "There is a Scrappy because he exists in the cartoon, so we have to acknowledge him," Gunn stated in an interview shortly before the film's release.

Ultimately, in the final film, Scrappy is revealed to be the villain, in an attempt to get revenge on Mystery Inc. after they kicked him out. Despite previously stating that he felt that "kids didn’t care",Gunn later admitted with some dismay that younger viewers had reacted poorly to the development, admitting he had not understood how popular Scrappy was with five and six-year-olds."I still think it was funny that Scrappy was the villain", he explained in an interview with Cinefantastique, "but there are kids out there who were really upset."

Performers

• Lennie Weinrib(1979–1980;Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo)
• Don Messick(1980–1988;Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo,The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show,Strong Kids, Safety Kids,The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries,The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo,Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers,Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School,Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf)
• Scott Innes(1999–present;The Scooby-Doo Project,Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law,Scooby-Doo,video games, commercials, toys, various merchandise)
• J.P. Manoux(2002; Scrappy Rex in the live-action film)
• James Arnold Taylor(2007;Drawn Together)
• Dan Milano(2007;Robot Chicken)
• Tom Kenny(2019;Wacky Races)
• Jason Mantzoukas(2024;Velma)

Reception

Scrappy was initially seen as a "good idea" bySaturday Morning Review.Viewership seemed to react positively to Scrappy, as Scooby's ratings went up with Scrappy's arrival. The character continued to be a success for the next decade.Story editor Duane Poole noted, "Scrappy solved a lot of story problems. Before you had to get Shaggy and Scooby into dangerous situations—and there was no real easy way to get them there—with Scrappy, he, uh, picked them up and carried them there. He just charged in. He was just such the antithesis of what Scooby and Shaggy were. The dynamic was great fun to play."

Joe Ruby and Ken Spearsseemed to have a less than positive view on the character. The co-founder of Ruby-Spears enterprises said, "Everyone was upset", though was unclear about whether this concerned business reasons (they had started their own company two years earlier) or personal creative reasons (considering that if Scooby had been canceled, then the last slot would have hit their show instead),starting when, in 1979, it looked a pilot of theirs would be renewed over Scooby's. Mark Evanier, who wrote said pilot, was hired impromptu to write Scrappy-Doo into a new pilot to renew interest in Scooby. As a result, Scooby was renewed over theirs, which was upsetting for them."Scrappy would charge in and solve things, so he was useful, in that way. A lot of people made derogatory comments about it at the studio and you know you don't want to be saddled with something based on, you know, network [...] but I think I liked working with it most of those cartoons."Said Charles M. Howell, a writer who originally joined the franchise back on The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show and continued to work on various iterations of the show until finally ending his tenure in the late '80s after penning the pilot episode forA Pup Named Scooby-Doo.

Tom Ruegger, stated, "It's a lot easier to love Scooby than it is to love Scrappy. But I don't have the problem with Scrappy that I have heard expressed by others. I suspect this is because I wasn't watching Scooby from the beginning, but rather, I came in and started catching up quite a while (a couple of years) after Scrappy had made his debut. Hey, they'd been messing with Scooby's cast for years! Scooby Dum. All those nasty celebrity cameo Scooby movies. I dislike those things more than I dislike Scrappy. And, for what it's worth, at least Scrappy brings some energy to the table. He actually does have a personality, even though many find it obnoxious. [...] So, since I tend to love the characters with whom I work, I can say that I learned to love Scrappy, despite all his limitations."Casper Kelly, one of the writers ofThe Scooby-Doo Projectalso admitted to having Scrappy as being in his first memory of Scooby, as well as enjoying when the monsters were real over the traditional fake monster format.

In 1999, celebrating Scooby-Doo's thirtieth anniversary, several newspapers printed articles, some of which mentioned Scrappy.In an episode of the 2011 seriesScooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated,Scrappy appeared in a brief cameo when Fred and Daphne visited a museum celebrating their exploits, to which Fred claimed "we all promised each other that we would never speak of him". In 2020, Casper Kelly stated that many writers did not actually hate Scrappy, implying that it was a joke and mandate.

Appearances

Television series

• Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo(1979–1980)
• The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show(1980–1982)
• The Scooby & Scrappy-Doo/Puppy Hour(1982–1983)
• The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show / The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries(1983–1984)
• Scary Scooby Funnies(package show) (1984–1985)
• The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo(1985)
• Scooby's Mystery Funhouse(package show) (1985–1986)
• Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated(2011) (cameo)
• Velma(2024)

Films

• Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers(1987)
• Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School(1988)
• Scooby-Doo! and the Reluctant Werewolf(1988)
• Scooby-Doo(2002)
• Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King(2008) ( "Easter egg"cameo)

Other appearances

Tabletop games

• Scooby-Doo Game(1980)
• Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo Game(1983)
• Scooby-Doo: The Board Game (Deluxe Edition)(2021)

Books

• Scrappy co-starred in several of Horace Elias's tie-in novels, particularly 1980'sScooby-Doo In the Haunted House.
• Scooby-Doo,the 1995Archie Comicsseries.
• He was the star of the 24th issue of the Cartoon Network Presents comic book series.
• Scrappy appears in the 2016DC Comicscomic book seriesScooby Apocalypse.

Other television

• At midnight, of October 31, 1999, Cartoon Network aired several promos over the gang's disappearance. One was a promo involving the gang being frightened of Scrappy.In an interview, the writers mention adding that bit because Scrappy's part in the marathon was coming up and they felt the need to work him in.
• Around 2001,Cartoon Network aired a bumper titled "Scrappy Loses It" where Scrappy rants about how the newerCartoon Cartoonswas becoming more popular than him despite him being around longer as the Cartoon Cartoons enter the studio in the same order that their schedule aired on prime-time. The bumper ends with Scrappy saying "Not for me, not for me, man!" in reference to Cartoon Network's then-current slogan, "The Best Place for Cartoons".
• Scrappy made a quick "Easter Egg"appearance in the"Scoobynatural"episode of the TV seriesSupernatural.
• Scrappy appeared in one of the bloopers for the 2003 movieScooby-Doo! and the Monster of Mexico.
• Scrappy was mentioned in the 2019 movieScooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost.
• Scrappy was mentioned in the 2021 TV specialScooby-Doo, Where Are You Now!

Video games

• In 1991, Amiga released a game entitledScooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doowhere Scrappy was the main playable character and had to venture through various platforms to find Shaggy and Scooby, who had gone missing.
• In 1999, Cartoon Network releasedScrappy Stinks,a game where the sole objective was to pelt Scrappy with a substance referred to as "smelly goo", but avoid hitting Shaggy and Scooby in the process.

External links

• "Scrappy Days",Mark Evanier's recollections of the creation of Scrappy-Doo
• The Scooby Story: The Facts on Scrappy